IFS Zooms In: The Economy

Recently, Rishi Sunak announced significant changes to the UK's net zero pathway. A ban on the sale of combustion engines has been pushed back to 2035, instead of a 100% phase out of gas boilers by 2035, this has been changed to 80%, and he’s scrapped energy efficiency targets for homes.What is the impact of the announcement? Who will it affect? How will it alter the UK's path to net zero?Joining us today is Chris Stark, Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee, an independent, statutory body which advises the government on climate change. Paul was until this year also a member of the CCC.Find out more: www.ifs.org.uk/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some politicians are keen to talk up global Britain. Others boast that the UK is world leader in, well, just about everything. But some say this is a country in non-stop decline. So what’s the true story?This week the Expert Factor team take a deep dive into Britain’s place in the world. How do other countries view the UK after a tumultuous time in Westminster? What is the state of the UK’s post-pandemic economy compared to other countries? Just how special is the ‘special’ relationship with the US? And what is the true story about what Brexit has meant for the UK? Hannah White, Paul Johnson and Anand Menon ask the tricky questions – and come up with the expert answers.A general election is looming. Manifestos are being drafted. The battle of ideas is intensifying. From tackling climate change to turning around the economy, rethinking Britain’s place in the world to restoring trust in politics, the UK is facing huge challenges. So how can we make sense of it all?THE EXPERT FACTOR is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week we the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come.• Institute Fiscal Studies: https://ifs.org.uk/• Institute for Government: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/• UK in a Changing Europe: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/Written and presented by Paul Johnson, Hannah White and Anand Menon. Audio production by Alex Rees for Podmasters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe to The Expert Factor feed: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-expert-factor/id1709487231A general election is looming. Manifestos are being drafted. The battle of ideas is intensifying. From tackling climate change to turning around the economy, rethinking Britain’s place in the world to restoring trust in politics, the UK is facing huge challenges. So how can we make sense of it all?The EXPERT FACTOR is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week we the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come.This week the team look ahead to the party conference season. What are the pressing questions that Keir Starmer needs to answer? How much pressure will Rishi Sunak be under? And what difference do these get-togethers really make?• Institute Fiscal Studies: https://ifs.org.uk/• Institute for Government: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/• UK in a Changing Europe: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/Written and presented by Paul Johnson, Hannah White and Anand Menon. Audio production by Alex Rees for Podmasters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From silicon chips to fertiliser, the last few years have shown us that where our materials come from matters massively to the stability of our economy. How we get stuff out of the ground, processed and into complex global supply chains is a vital and oft-overlooked part of our economy - with ramifications for government policy across all sectors.In this episode, we speak with Ed Conway, Economics Editor at Sky News and author of a new book Material World: The Making of Civilisation.Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Debates about inequality often focus on inequalities between people. But what about inequalities between firms?Recent decades have seen the emergence of giant, multinational firms - the FAANGs of this world. But over 40% of registered businesses in the UK have less than 10 employees.What do we mean when we talk about inequality between firms? Are inequalities between firms limiting UK business dynamism? And do governments need to step in and enforce competition rules?Joining us this episode are John Van Reenan, Ronald Coase Chair in Economics and School Professor at the LSE, and Amelia Fletcher, Professor of Competition Policy at Norwich Business School.Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past decades, women have drawn closer to men in a variety of areas - education, university degrees and workforce participation. But, women still earn less on average than men.In this episode, we ask why this pay gap opens up, whether things have improved in recent years, and talk about one key factor affecting women’s pay - kids.Joining us are Alison Andrew, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford, Christine Farquharson, Senior Research Economist at IFS and Lucinda Platt, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology at the LSE.Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since 2019, we’ve all heard a lot about levelling up. It makes sense that our politics is centered around it - of all types of inequality, the public seems most concerned about the geographical sort. But do the numbers back this up? How much of Britain’s inequality is generated by differing fortunes in different parts of the country? And what might an effective “levelling up” agenda look like?   In this episode, we speak to Xiaowei Xu, Senior Research Economist at IFS, James Banks, Professor of Economics at Manchester University.Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We see inequalities all the time, whether at the school gates, the hospital, when travelling round the country and definitely when turning on the news. But why should we care about inequality? What has happened to inequality over recent decades? And can government do anything about it?We speak to Professor Sir Angus Deaton, an economist who is an expert on inequality and leads the IFS-Deaton Review, Debra Satz, a philosopher and Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, and Robert Joyce, Deputy Director at IFS and panel member of the IFS-Deaton Review.Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inequalities are one of the defining issues of the modern age. We see inequalities all the time, whether at the school gates, the hospital, when travelling round the country and definitely when turning on the news.Over the next month on the IFS Zooms In, we are bringing you a mini-series looking at inequality in Britain. We’ll be looking at a range of issues, from what’s happened to inequality over the last several decades and why that might matter, to more specific issues such as the role parenthood plays in opening the gender pay gap, and whether the practices of big tech companies worsen inequality.We hope you’ll join us, starting next week, as the IFS Zooms In on inequality.Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we're bringing you an episode from the archives, looking at the future of public sector pensions. We'll be back in two weeks with a new episode. -----------------------------------In an era where those in the private sector have seen their pension provision decrease, pensions in the public sector continue to look generous.But is this sustainable? Should we change the balance between pay and pensions for those in the public sector? What does the future hold for public sector pensions?This week, we speak to Lord Hutton of Furness, cabinet minister in the last Labour government and leader of the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission, a review into public sector pensions commissioned by David Cameron, and by Carl Emmerson, IFS Deputy Director and expert on pensions.Support the IFS: https://ifs.org.uk/donate Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.